Method and device for the salvage of sunken ships



May 27 I924. 1,495,688

B. A. HASSELBERG ET AL METHOD AND DEVICE FOR THE SALVAGE OF SUNKEN SHIPS Filed June 17. 192] 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 -4.17. Hd668 Lb 1:7

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Ma 27, 1924. 1,495.688. I

B. A. L. HASSELBERG ET AL METHOD AND DEVICE FOR THE SALVAGE 0F SUNKEN SHIPS N/ Filed June 17. 19 21 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 27, 1924.

marten STATES PATENT nmee. I

BERNHARD ARTHUR LENNART AssELBE-Re, on STOCKHOLM, Ann KARL GUSTAI osTB Re, 0F NEGLINGE, SWEDEN. 7

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR THE SALVAGE 0F SUNKEN SHIPS.

Application filed .Tune 17, 1921. Serial No. 478,407

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, BERNHARD ARTHUR LENNART HASSELBERG and KARL GUSTAF CS BERG, subjects of the King of Swedemand residing at Stockholm, Sweden, and Neglinge, Sweden, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods and Devices for the Salvage of Sunken Ships, of which the following is a specification.

To facilitate the salvage of ships, even at greater depths, it has already been proposed to provide the ships with certain apparatus which are automatically brought in operation on the occurrence of an accident, and which make possible the loweringof a lifting chain to the sunken ship and the automatic coupling thereof to the ship. The present invention has for its object to provide certain improvements in the said devices.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figs. 1 and 2 show the general design of the apparatus in question, their application on the ship and the method of carrying the salvage into effect. Figs. 3 and 4 show one embodiment of the coupling in longitudinal section and in plan respectively. 1

The method of the salvage willflrst be described hereinbelow with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.

Mounted in a place of the ship which is adapted for the purpose, is a floater 1 which, on the ship going down, follows the latter to the bottom of the sea, but is then, on the lapse of a certain time, which may be controlled, automatically released from mounting position and then floats up to the surface. The connection between the floater 1 and the sunken ship is maintained by the wire 2, which preferably is a thin and fle x-" ible steel wire, a suitable length of which is housed within the body of the floater in such a way that it will run out when the floater ascends to the surface. Apparatus of known type may be mounted into the floater to emit light signals or audible signals, as the case may be, which apparatus are automatically brought in operation on the floater reaching the surface, the said apparatus thus send- 7 ing out signals in all directions, announcing the wreckage of the ship, whereby the salvage thereof is made possible without delay.

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The wire 2 should be as light and thin as possible in order not to. load the floater 1 too much, and it has a two-fold purpose to fulfill, viz, partly'to connect the floater on the'surface of the sea with the sunken ship, asdescribed above, and partly to serve as a guide wire, by means of which a thicker wire may belowered to the ship and attached to a certa n point thereof. .This thicker wire may, 1n turn, serve as a guide wire for the lowering and attaching of a still thicker wire, which procedure may be repeated, until the wire. or the chain by means of which the shipis to beraised has been lowered and attached tojthe same. To this end the wire 2 is attached with one end to a coupling member 3'ofspecial construction which, in turn, is rigidly connected through the medium of one or-more chains or wires 4 of sufficient strength, to one or more points 5 of the ship, the strength of which places is assumed to withstand the strain produced by; the lifting force applied to the coupling member ,3.,:. i i

Fi .,1;'sho.w's the mem ers as mounted on the ship, after the ship has sunk and before the salvaging work has as yet been started. :Fig. 2 illustrates themethod of lowering the lifting chain and the; wayrof attaching same to the sunken ship. Upon removal of the floater, the coupling member 3' is brought into anupright position by stretchingithe wire 2, such position being necessary to enable therfol lowing thicker wires to be attached to the coupling." A thicker wire 6 has already been lOWeredby means of-its coupling head 7 along the painter of the floater 2, and atthe guide wires and the lifting cables to the sunken ship comprise a plurality of coupling sleeves and'coupling heads arranged in pairs, the coupling sleeves being mountedjonithe ship, wliilethe coupling heads are attached to the-guide wires and the lifting cables'respectively. t 1 Figs. Band lillustrate an embodiment of the coupling devices. To attach the ultimate liftingcable to the ship, only one mediative auxiliary or guide wire is used in addition position of the coupling to the thin painter belonging to the floater, the said auxiliary wire being generally sufficient for the purpose. The said figures show the relative position of the coupling members, after the coupling head 7 of the guide wire and the coupling head 12 of the lifting cable have been inserted in and coupled to the coupling sleeves 13 and 3 corresponding thereto. The latter are made integral, or, they may be united to form a single coupling member which is pivotally connected by means of the hole 15 provided at the base thereof, with cables or chains suitably connected to the ship and adapted for the lifting thereof.

The centraland cylindrical tube 16, the upper end of which is formed into or carries a coupling sleeve 13, is enclosed concentrically by the cylindrical and bell-shaped coupling sleeve 3. The tube 16 is also extended so far that it projects outside the coupling sleeve 3, this causing partly that the coupling sleeve 13 attains a suitable free position, facilitating the insertion and the attaching ofthe coupling sleeve 7, and part ly that the tube 16 may serve as a suitable guide when the coupling head 12 is being inserted and attached into the coupling sleeve 3. Arranged in the tube 16 underneath the coupling sleeve 13 is a partition 17 to the centre of which is attached the painter of the floater, for instance by means of a hole 18 bored therethrough.

The coupling sleeves 3 and 13 are each provided with an inwardly directed flange, 20 and 19 respectively, extending along the edge of the sleeve, the outer edge of which is bevelled or rounded, while the inner portion thereof, which is directed toward the bottom of the sleeve, has a concave rounded, preferably circular outline 21 or 14: respectively. V

The coupling head 12 is attached with its one end to the lifting cable or the lifting chain by means of the holes 22 provided in the said end, and the opposite end of this coupling head is formed into a cylindrical part 23, the diameter of which is adapted so that the said cylindrical portion may be inserted to a certain predetermined depth into the coupling sleeve 3, the same fitting snugly onto the opening limited by the inner edge of the flange 20. The cylindrical portion 23 is provided with a number of bore holes or pockets 24, annularly positioned at the same distance from the end of the cylinder, and arranged askew with respect to the longitudinal axis of the coupling head, or generally shaped in such a manner that the freely movable locking balls 25 enclosed within the said pockets have a tendency to roll out of their positions when the coupling head assumes a freely depending position. This effect may be augmented by the action of helical springs inserted between the locking balls and the bottom of the pockets. However, the locking balls 25 may project out of their respective positions only to a certain extent, owing to the mouth of the said pockets being choked for instance by upsetting their outer edges, the greatest diameter of the locking balls being thus prevented from passing therethrough. The ball pockets 2e are also provided with spherical recesses 26, the surfaces of which are adapted to a perfect fit with the surfaces of the respective locking balls, the same thus constituting a bearing surface for the balls when the lat ter are in locking position. Extending through the coupling head 12 along the longitudinal axis thereof is a concentric hole 27, the diameter of which slightly exceeds the section of tube 16, which latter may thus serve as a guide for the coupling head 12 when the latter is inserted into the coupling sleeve 3.

The construction of the coupling head 7 is the same as that of the coupling head 12. It is thus provided with locking balls 28 ar ranged in pockets 29 in the same way as the balls 25. Furthermore, it is provided with a guide member 30 attached to the upper part thereof, the said guide member 30 being adapted to facilitate the insertion of the next coupling head 12 into the coupling sleeve 3, after the coupling head 7 has been locked in the coupling sleeve 13. The guideinember 30 is tapering upwardly and has a cross section at the base, which, preferably, is not smaller than the diameter of the cylinder 16, and it may consist for instance of a cone, or, as indicated in the drawing, of a number of triangular plates canted relatively to each other. Extending through the coupling head 7 and the guide member 30 attached thereto, concentrically with respect to the longitudinal axis thereof, is a hole 31, the mouth 32 of which is preferably conically enlarged to facilitate the leading therethrough of the fioaters painter.

The mode of operation of the coupling devices will be seenfrom the construction. The painter of the floater swimming on the surface of the sea having been severed, the same is passed through the hole 31 of the coupling head 7, whereupon the latter is caused to glide down along the stretched painter'serving as a guide wire, and to be lowered by means of the supporting thicker guide wire onto the coupling sleeve 13 in which it is inserted, the locking balls projecting partly from their ball pockets on passing the inwardly directed flange 19 of the coupling sleeve, being pushed into the ball pockets by the said flange 19, the said locking balls, however, on the flange having been passed, falling again into their previous positions, resting in the spherical recesses provided in the different ball pockets. Thus the locking balls, which are ammed between f the lower side of the edge flange and the coupling head, prevent the latter from being pulled out of the coupling sleeve. The thicker guide wire thus attached is then passed, preferably together with the painter of the floater, through the hole 27 of the coupling head 12 which is lowered onto and attached to the coupling sleeve 3 in the manner above described, whereby the fixing of the lifting chain or cable to the sunken ship is attained.

If the weight of the lifting chain would necessitate the employment of two or more mediative auxiliary wires, the character and the mode of operation of the coupling devices still remain the same, the number of the coupling sleeves attached to the ship, which sleeves are united to a system preferably in accordance with the method above described, as also the number of coupling heads corresponding to the said coupling sleeves, having of course to be adaptedafter the number of wires used for the purpose.

Evidently the locking members need not be spherical but may be shaped otherwise, if desired. They may for instance consist of rollers, trundles or the like, or they may consist of clutch teeth, pivotally or slidably mounted in the one or the other coupling member. The couplinghead 33, which is provided with a guiding stud 34., is inserted into the coupling sleeve 35, and the locking balls 37 projecting to a certain extent from their ball pockets 36.

In order to further ensure that connection with a sunken ship by means of a body floating up to the surface will in all cases be established independently of the position assumed by the ship on the bottom of the sea, it will in most cases be suitable to provide the ship with more than one floater together with appertaining coupling devices, the various mounting places being then selected in such a manner that one floater at least may be released unhampered by the position of the ship, and float to the surface. In the case of floaters with appertaining coupling devices being arranged on either side of the ship, the arrangements for releasing the floaters from the ship may, in order to prevent the painters from becoming entangled with one another, coact in such a manner that only the floater or the floaters situated on the upwardly directed side of the ship are released, whereas the remaining floaters are locked in their different mounting positions.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration showing one method of automatically releasing one and of locking the other of two floaters, mounted opposite each other, according as the ship is slanting to the one or the other side. This is effected by means of a pendulum mechanism 10 arranged in a suitable place of the ship, the said mechanism being normally fixed in an upright position by means of a solid material which is soluble in water, such as sugar, the said mechanism, however, being released on the ship going down, the end of the one or the other wire 11 being released so that the corresponding lever 51 can move freely while the other wire remains tight.

What we claim as new and desire to cure by Letters Patent of the United States 1S1 1. In a system for the salvage of sunken ships, the combination of a guide wire, the lower end of which is fastened to the ship, means for bringing the other end of said guide wire tothe surface of water, a lifting cable, a coupling head at the lower end thereof, a coupling member on the ship adapted to be coupled with said coupling head, an auxiliary wire, a coupling head at the lower end thereof, an auxiliary coupling member on the ship for the fastening of the coupling head of said, auxiliary wire, the latter being adapted to be used as a guide wire for the loweringand fixing of a thicker wire.

2. In a system for the salvage of sunken ships the combination of a guide wire, the lower end of which is fastened to the ship, means for bringing the other end of said guide wire to the surface of water, a lifting cable, a coupling head at the lower end thereof, a coupling member on the shipadapted to be coupled with said coupling head, a number of auxiliary wires, a coupling head at the lower end of each of said auxiliary wires, a number of auxiliary coupling members on the ship for the fastening of the coupling heads of said auxiliary wires, each of which is adapted to be used as a guide wire for the lowering and fixing of a thicker guide wire or the lifting cable.

3. In a system for the salvage of sunken ships, the combination of a guide wire, the lower end of which is fastened to the ship, means for bringing the other end of said guide wire to the surface of water, a series of cables of increasing strength, a number of automatically operating couplings adapted to be used for the successive fixing of said cables to the ship, said couplings being combined into a coupling unit comprisin a series of couplings of increasing size and strength.

4. A system as claimed in claim 3 in which the coupling members attached to the cables are provided with apertures which are wide enough to allow such coupling member to be passed over a smaller coupling already applied.

5. A system as claimed in claim 3, in which the guide wire is associated with the smallest coupling.

6. In a system for the salvage of sunken ships, the combination of a guide wire, the

lower end of which is fastened to the ship, means for bringing the other end of said guide wire to the surface of Water, a lifting cable, a lifting coupling for the fastening of said cable, a number of auxiliary wires, a number of auxiliary couplings for the fastening of said auxiliary wires, said lifting coupling and said auxiliary couplings being combined into a couplingunit, one part of which consists of a series of sleeves of increasing size and strength, while the other part of the unitconsists of a series of pistons each of which is adapted to fit in and to be locked with a corresponding sleeve.

7. A system as claimed in claim 6 in which the different couplings of the coupling unit are disposed co-axially relatively to each other in such a manner that each auxiliary coupling is adapted to serve as a guide in applying a coupling member of a larger s1ze.

8. A system as claimed in claim 7 in which each auxiliary coupling forms a central projection adapted to serve as a guide in applying a coupling member of a larger size.

9. In a system for the salvage of sunken ships the combination of a guide wire, the lower end of which is fastened to the ship, means for bringing the other end of said guide Wire to the surface of water, a series of cables, a series of automatically operating couplings adapted to be used for the fixing of said cables to the ship and combined into a coupling unit, one part of which is provided with looking members consisting of balls loosely arranged in suitable pockets and coacting with recesses in the other part of the unit.

10. A system for the salvage of sunken ships, comprising a number of lifting cables, provided with automatically operating clutches, one member of which is fastened to the ship and the other to the cable, the former being provided with a painter and a float by means of which the painter is brought to the surface, and the latter being provided with a number of actuated locking members, consisting of balls loosely arranged in suitable pockets and adapted to engage recesses in the clutch member connectedwith the ship, so as to automatically clutch the two members together, when the clutch member of the cable is being lowered along the painter and slid into the coupling member on the ship.

11. A system as claimed in claim 10 in which there is provided for each painter a plurality of combined coupling members attached to the ship and adapted for a successive fastening of two or more lifting cables of a different dimension to the same point of the ship, while using a cable al ready made fast as a guide cable for lowering and fastening a thicker cable.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two witnesses.

EERNHARD ARTHUR LENNART aassmseac. KARL GUSTAF osrsssc.

Witnesses:

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